


Learning Love

by Salmonellagogo



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Bisexual Jason Todd, Coming Out, Fluff and Angst, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:15:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22194658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmonellagogo/pseuds/Salmonellagogo
Summary: In which Richard Grayson has large Instagram following and Jason is pining.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 3
Kudos: 116





	Learning Love

**Author's Note:**

> Will add more tags as the story progress. Tell me if I missed anything. Thanks!

Richard Grayson’s Instagram account has over twenty thousand followers. Jason knows this fact, because he discreetly follows Dick's account and sometimes, he pulls the page up on his phone just for kicks. 

Objectively, he knows Dick is a beautiful man. He doesn’t need the comment section of the social media to tell him that. Deep blue eyes, with face that is almost perfect symmetry and hair that shines just right when the sunlight hits it. Subjectively though, looking at Dick sometimes makes him want to punch something. And sometimes, that something is Dick's beautiful face. Especially when the man in question is being a pain in the ass. 

_Richard Grayson posted a new picture!_

Jason's phone chimes with a new notification and he, unfortunately, has an idea what the picture might be. 

Dick is spending his night at Spectrum. A club that caters to the gay crowd, and classy enough apparently, that Richard Grayson and his gaggle of trust fund babies friends that make up the 1% of Gotham deign to grace the place with their presence. 

Jason taps his fingers on his beer. When he decided to go out earlier tonight, he certainly didn’t plan to run into Dick. He’s had enough of his pseudo-family’s shit for the week. He just wants to get buzzed, and maybe find someone so he can regret the night tomorrow morning. He polishes off his beer and plunks the empty glass on the bar, then lifts his finger to signal the bartender for another. 

The bartender raises their brows but doesn’t budge. A group of girls are rattling off their orders and apparently, Jason just isn’t a priority. 

Jesus. 

He turns his back to the bar and is greeted again by the display of… Dick dancing among the press of bodies. He’s wearing a pair black designer jeans and a t-shirt, simple yet still manages to show off his wide shoulders and the muscular lines of his back. A girl in white dress is dancing with him. Fingers with nails painted neon blue bunch Dick's t-shirt at the back. They are talking--about something that Jason determinedly doesn’t want to pick up despite hours of lip reading crash course courtesy of Talia’s evil mentors. And Jason's eyes definitely do not stray to the strip of skin showing at Dick's lower back when his companion pulls his shirt higher. 

Instead, Jason looks down to unlock his phone and taps the notification. Dick is grinning in the photo, hair artfully styled to fall over one of his eyes. His tan skin dyed green and blue by the club’s strobe lights. The caption just says, ‘Having fun!’ and already, there’s two hundred likes. 

Jason sighs and puts his phone to sleep again. 

Maybe, it's time to call it a night. 

***

Two drinks in, Jason resolutely keeps his back to where Dick is last seen. His 'maybe five more minutes' gets delayed again and again, until he's talking to a guy who tapped his shoulder and hasn't run off yet after talking to Jason for five minutes. He's cute, dressed in a slick club crawler way. Black booty short shorts and t-shirt, paired with badass looking combat boots. His eyes are lined with kohl and Jason can't stop eyeing the glitter smeared on the highest point of his cheekbone. 

Jason doesn't catch all the words that came out of his mouth. The music is too loud for casual conversation. But his reciprocation doesn't seem necessary. He caresses Jason's arm and it takes an effort not to deflect the touch. 

Jason has forgone his leather jacket for the night and he feels naked without that layer of protection. The guy finds the scar on the inside of Jason's arm. His index finger runs over the raised skin. It's a knife wound, long and ugly, that had bled like a bitch when Jason got it. A souvenir from his time with Talia. 

This time, Jason retracts his arm. 

The dismay in the guy's eyes has Jason trying to summon up a reluctant smile. He asks, "What's your name?" 

"Linden," the guy tells him. A dimple creases the guy's left cheek when he smiles. 

Before Jason can offer one of his fake names to the guy, a warm hand touches his shoulder. His stomach sinks when the person behind him says, "Jay." 

Jason turns around. 

Dick's rows of white teeth are on display as he grins wide to Jason, his eyes twinkling as if seeing Jason is the best thing to happen to him all day, as if he hadn't only witnessed his adoptive father threatened to evict him from Gotham a few days ago. "Hey, what are you doing here?" 

Up close, Dick is even more infuriatingly good looking. Jason sneers and pitches his voice to carry over the music, "What do you think, Dickie? What would any other red-blooded male come here for, beside the obvious?" 

Dick's grin melts off his face. Dick is smart, enough that Jason knows he will catch Jason's meaning. 

"I didn't know you're gay," he says after a moment. Tact is not something that Dick Grayson has, apparently. 

Jason scowls. _Because none of you needs to know._ “That a problem?”

“Huh? Of course not.” Dick smiles again, softer. “Why would you think that?”

“Heh.” _Because last time I remember, your daddy glared at me for breathing wrong._ “Anyway, I believe the correct term is bisexual.”

"You should know I wouldn't have judged you for that." Dick pats Jason’s arm. “Come on. Let me buy you a drink.”

And, that reminds Jason that he’s talking to someone before Dick interrupted him. However, when Jason looks to the side, Linden, or whatever his name is, has moved on. A quick glance confirms that he’s now sidled up to another person down the row. A silver fox that pays him more attention than Jason ever would. 

“What do you want?” Dick asks as he slides next to Jason and places his wiry arm on the bar top. The close quarter forces him shoulder to shoulder with Jason, and Jason can smell Dick’s cologne. Something fruity and far too sweet, because of course Dick Grayson doesn’t need to prove his alpha male status to anyone. 

Jason deliberately chooses something colorful with cherries on top. Dick’s answering grin makes something inside Jason stirs. He waves money at the bartender and calls them by their name. Something that Jason struggled to do is done in less than five minutes. Dick buys Jason a pinkish drink with three maraschino cherries on a stick and a couple of shots. Jason picks up his drink and sips slowly as Dick downs one of the shots. 

Then, for a few moment, all Jason does is looking at Dick’s profile as the other man observes the crowd. The slope of his nose, full lips, and long, dusky eyelashes… Dick is ridiculously attractive and Jason is aware that he’s not the only one looking. Something dark grows in Jason’s chest, but he dismisses it as soon as it rears its ugly head. Dick is forbidden territory, and even though he hasn’t run the moment he found out about Jason’s preference, really, following that line of thought is a road best not taken for Jason’s own sanity. 

“You come here often?” Jason asks for lack of other topic to pick up. What do you talk about when you accidentally meet your not-brother in a gay club?

“Not really,” Dick says, then wryly he adds, “This place's business hour's not exactly ideal time for people like us.”

People like us. Because of course, on any other day, Dick would be running on the rooftops of Bludhaven, chasing criminals, instead of going to the club like people their age would. 

"Sometimes it’s nice just to go out without any worries,” Dick says. 

Jason scoffs. “I'm sure, Grayson.”

“Hey.” Dick elbows Jason. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jason lifts his brows. "Nothing. It's good that you like hanging out with your rich friends."

Dick frowns. He's opening his mouth to deliver what Jason doesn't doubt will be a scathing retort, when--

"Richard!" 

The girl from earlier, the one Jason saw dancing with Dick, approaches them. She's dragging a guy with her by his hand. On closer look, under the makeup and pouty lips, Jason can see that she is a guy. A very pretty guy, wearing a low cut dress showing an expanse of flat chest. 

"There you are!" They smack Dick's elbow lightly. Then, as if just noticing that Dick's hanging out with someone, they give Jason a speculative look. "And now I see why you abandoned me."

Dick smiles crookedly. "Ashley, this is--" 

"Peter," Jason finishes for him. 

"Peter," Dick says.

"Mmm." Ashley nods. "Whatever. Let's dance with me and Theo." They latch their fingers around Dick's wrist. Jason assumes Theo is the other guy who's now staring at them with growing impatience. However, it doesn't escape Jason that he's also eyeing Dick with interest. What an ass. 

"I'll find you in a bit." Dick pats Ashley's clingy hand. 

Ashley pouts at him, but leaves him alone after throwing another dissecting glance Jason's way. 

"Do you want to go out there?" Dick addresses him, tilting his head to the direction of the dance floor. 

"No thanks," Jason says. 

Jason nearly jumps out of his skin when Dick places his hand on the outside of Jason's arm. For a second, Jason thinks Dick's going to push, forces Jason to go with him, but the moment passes and Dick's warm touch retracts, his hand falling back to his side. 

Jason looks into his deep blue eyes. For someone so expressive, he's impossible to read. 

"You know, for what it's worth," Dick says, "I'm a bisexual too." 

Quid pro quo. An eye for an eye. Dick grins at him after dropping that statement. 

"See you later, Jay."

Jason's mind is still reeling by the time Dick's back is swallowed by the crowd. 


End file.
